Last Friday I was at the BFI IMAX in London to see Bohemian Rhapsody, the biopic on the Queen’s career, for my friends in Voce Spettacolo.

IMAX is the biggest cinema screen in UK, but its extension is nothing compared to the emotion I felt in seeing a movie that I, together with other millions people, have been expecting for a long time, or at least since 1991. I approached the movie with the light and sensitive heart of a 15-year-old boy who starts to explore music for the first time through Queen: the first band that got my heart and still has it after 30 years. And they can keep it unconditionally. In fact, there are few universal things in life that are beyond any comment, comparisons, taste: pizza, your mom, summer, freedom, sex and Queen. It doesn’t really matter which music you like, which style makes you happy or which sounds are sweet to your ears: there’s at least one Queen’s song that you love, that you whistled while in the Underground, that you have compared to other bands’ hits.

Now, the movie. Let’s be honest: producing a biopic on this band is a terribly complicated job, so many human and musical aspects to be put together. It was obvious that the movie had to be centered on Freddie’s life, excesses and genius: this is the starting point where to build the story. Brian May and Roger Taylor’s contibution shows thorughout the movie. That’s why I found some errors and imprecisions in the plot unacceptable and they made me jump on the seat and arch an eyebrow in surprise.

Just a few examples: during a concert in 1974 the band performs Fat Bottomed Girl, that was actually released only in 1979 as part of the album Jazz; or during the studio scene when We will rock you (a song released in 1977) starts to take form, Freddie appears with short hair and his famous moustache, but he only got this look in 1980. Then when Freddie reveals to the rest of the band that he got HIV, I found this a little stretched as it most likely happened one year later.

The movie describes music production, private lives and the relationship between the band’s components in a clean and balanced way. Some people may find it too politically correct, too polished and generally weak, preferring to have more details on Freddie’s life in the gay environment and clubs, whereas this aspect is being treated very gently in the production. On the other hand, I believe that this movie was meant to be the celebration of a legendary band, of rock, of four great artists: therefore a celebration of music.

That’s why I think that this movie had to be produced: we needed a documentary that was able to guide us through the band’s career, giving each aspect the proper space without creating imbalances. Bohemian Rhapsody is therefore a good start. In fact, you can be sure that in the future, other productions on Queen’s career, will probably focus more on Freddie’s sexuality or its relationship with the rest of the band, or maybe on his love stories with Mary Austin and Jim Hutton. In any case Bohemian Rhapsody will remain a reference from where to start for new studies on the band: maybe not a good reference fo many people, but still a reference.

The plot follows a linear time order and is based on Freddie’s life events: from the clashes with his dad to the job at Heathrow airport to his first approach with Brian and Roger’s band, Smile. At one of their concert Freddie meets the person who wil remain closest to him for all his life: Mary Austin. First as his fiancee’ and later as her best friend, she will always be Freddie’s Love of my life and inspirer of the homonym song, that we can enjoy through an excellent voice and piano excerpt in the studio.

Even when Freddie will confess his homosexuality, he wil ask Mary to remain in his life during a moving scene.

In the meantime the musical experiments go along with the fights within the band. A band that is nevertheless united when imposing Bohemian Rhapsody as the first single to be exctracted from the album A night at the opera in 1975 to EMI executive Ray Foster (played by Mike Myers, who revitilized the song fame during the famous scene in the car in Wayne’s world). Ray refuses the song predicting that in ‘6 month time nobody will play Queen’. Congratulations.

The studio scenes showing Bohemain Rhapsody production are excellent as they communicate Freddie’s obsessive reasearch for perfection (asking Roger to repeate infinite Galileos to get the desired opera effect), the team work and the enthusiasm for the final result.

In the following years Queen’s music is acclaimed all over the world through continuous hits that are so different in style from each other. Freddie said:” There’s no musical ghetto that can contain us”: Somebody to Love, Another one bites the dust, We will rock you, Don’t stop me now, Crazy little thing called love are the the brilliant confirmation of this idea.

At the beginning of the Eighties Freddie’s private life starts to be lascivious and messy: loneliness, difficulties in finding a long standing partner and a growing hedonism bring him to temporaily break with the band and accept a contract with CBS for a solo album. The movie approaches this period tactfully, trying not to stress the details of Mercury’s excesses, but only showing some kisses, alcool and some cocaine abandoned on a table.

Freddie will be romantically saved by Mary in a crucial and dramatic scene: she reached his Munich’s retirement and convinced him to get rid of bad companies and selfish counsellors and come back to his real family: Queen. Timing is perfect: Live Aid is approaching and the band cannot miss this huge world event. This is the moment when Freddie tells Brian, Roger and John that he has got HIV. The news comes s a shock but Freddie asks to treat him without pity and to keep on creating music until the end. There’s also a touching scene when Freddie introduces Jim Hutton to his family and, after having explained the meaning of Live Aid, hugs with his father as a sign of peace.

It is difficult to describe what Queen’s 20 minutes gig at Live Aid represented for Freddie, the band and music: an artistic rebirth, rock consecration, the final escape from the human dimension to reach the legend. The movie reproduces brilliantly this flawless musical and vocal performance, in a stadium that looked like it was filled only for Queen.

The crowd is totally guided by Freddie, especially when one hundred thousand voices joins to follow him in his vocal improvisation or when everybody clap their hands at Radio Ga Ga rhytm until the apotheosis with We are the champions.

That’s when the film ends, leaving a feeling of nostalgia and musical perfection that is hard to forget.

Two things raise above the others in this movie. First is Rami Malek performance. This tiny guy of egyptian origins, who has already shown his talent in the TV series Mr. Robot, tries a tight artistic dress, difficult to wear, but he brilliantly brings it round with dignity and plausibility. Freddie was a complex charachter, fragile and perennially looking for his balance. Rami manages to communicate the inner battle of a gay immigrant, with abnormally big teeth that attracted people’s derision.

A guy who only wished to be accepted in his diversity. The actor skillfully imitates Freddie’s movement and attitudes. If you think that the difficult Live Aid scenes have been shot from day 1, this tell us even mor about Rami’s extraordinary performance. I would be surprised and disappointed if this role wouldn’t lead to an Oscar nomination.

Live Aid reconstruction is the second jewel in the movie: the quality of framing, the perfect replica of movements and of the old Wembley stadium structure, together with the effects produced by the crowd while interacting with band are of the highest level. It makes you feel you are actually on the stage and can enjoy the show with at 360 degrees view.

In the end I was really happy when i left the cinema, despite the plot imperfections. I was happy because that 15-year-old boy who listened to Queen for the first time is still alive. And how could it be different? Despite the movie could and should have been more accurate, despite the rightful critics from the cinema industry and the fans, despite the continuous change in musical styles and time that tries to obliterate the past, this movie remembered us that Queen are still alive and present.

Like the pizza, your mum, summer, freedom and sex: reminding them, celebrating them, letting us enjoy them thorugh their music can never be considered wrong. God save the music! God save the Queen!